Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Justice Undone in Israeli Settlements

Excellent op-ed piece in the JPost about the persecution of Jewish settlers and the cynical, political exploitation of Arabs by NGO's such as "Yesh Din" and "Peace Now"

"Despite extensive media coverage of Migron’s legal battles to survive, judicial edicts by a few members of Israel’s Supreme Court, and misrepresentations by those who oppose Migron’s presence, the facts concerning this Jewish community have not been presented fully, or fairly.

A small community of 50 families a dozen kilometers north of Jerusalem, Migron is a test case for all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and its fate may affect many within Israel’s “Green Line” as well.

The controversy revolves around two main issues: (1) who owns the land, and (2) if there was government negligence, who was responsible and who should be compensated. Despite the trauma of expelling 9,000 people from Gush Katif and the northern Shomron, Israel seems on the verge of repeating its mistakes."

...Part of the land on which Migron was built was registered to Arabs who left the region and cannot be found; this land thus came under the jurisdiction of the Custodian of Abandoned Property (apotropus) – a government agency established to manage land and property that is uninhabited and unclaimed. Another part of Migron was allegedly purchased by Jews, but not registered as such for fear of exposing the Arabs who sold it to the PA’s death penalty for such ‘crimes.’